


The Man They Called Snake

by VanillaSkyce



Category: Original Work, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: And starstrucksea, For Frenzie, Frenzie's character, Gen, Loss, Mysterious backstory, Psychological Trauma, This One's a Tribute, Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-18 21:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17588348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaSkyce/pseuds/VanillaSkyce
Summary: After The Fall, after the rebellion, not all the gems who made it out alive were a member of our eponymous hero's little group. Some of them had to make out on their own. Some of them had to experience life amongst the organics on their own and come to the same conclusion on their own.Contained within is the journal of my experiences amongst the people of Earth, my journey, and my eventual concession to the rebel faction known as the Crystal Gems.My name is Serpentine. This is my story.





	1. Foreword

**Author's Note:**

  * For [APermanentResidentOfTheFriendzone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/APermanentResidentOfTheFriendzone/gifts), [starstrucksea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstrucksea/gifts).



To **APermanentResidentInTheFriendzone.**

Hi Buddy. I told you that if ever I were to use your OC in a fanfic, you would be the first to know. So here it is. My second ever fanfiction, and it’s about the character of what is perhaps one of my very few faithful followers. I can only hope this does him justice, for all the thought you’ve put into it.

I’d also like to apologise in advance for any… discrepancies in characterisation. I know that I’m not you, but I’m trying quite hard to be you when I write about Serpentine. I’ve had to take some creative liberties in his origin story, which is something I know will offend some writers, so I really really want to apologise in advance for that.

But ultimately, I hope that my final product, satisfied as I am with it, will bring the same joy to you as it did to me.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To **starstrucksea.**

How ya livin, sista. (or brother, or other. The world’s a doozy these days, but I’ll be damned if I get shot down for improper pronouns.)

This piece is thus to you, in part dedicated. It has less to do with you in the conventional sense as it does to Frenzie over there, but your loose yet intensely personal style of writing has influenced me and in turn, this fiction, to an inextricable extent. I love when an already developed world goes off on a tangent to create something entirely new (which is exactly what I’m doing with my TGC saga), and what you’re doing with Lapis, Peridot and Amethyst. There’s a certain allure to your style of writing which I can’t quite place, but am drawn to all the same.

If you have the time Triple-S, please continue that fanfic, even if its more of a musing than anything else. It's all I ask of you.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone :)

As I said before, I'll be gone for increasingly longer periods of time, because my day job requires that I bring work home T_T<br />  
But that doesn't mean I'll be gone. For me, writing is a way to decompress. To let out my innermost feelings and pent-up thoughts in a method of expression that only I can truly understand.<br />  
And now that I'm always busy, I'll always be looking for a way to de-stress. I've had so many new ideas lately, sometimes its hard to keep track of them all. But rest assured, the updates are coming.

This here is a pet project of mine. As much a means to test myself in how to develop an original arc and character from what little I have to go on (even though it wasn't a little, because Frenzie has already fleshed out so much of his backstory), as it is to just let it all out. As a result, what I write tends to be a little... unrefined. It's been three years since I last thought of something like my other series, and I'm rusty. I hope you'll forgive me for that, dear reader.

But most of all, I hope you'll enjoy what you read.


	2. Journal Entry : Saigo no Kotoba 1

I'm writing this from memory. Not sure all of it is mine, but some's better than none. The facts won't sync with reality, but there's no one left to say otherwise, so for all intents and purposes, this will be the history of a little town called Onagi, and the horrors that followed an all too brief peace. 

I remember home. And stories of a paradise we'd all one day get to see. Of a city that ‘shone through the night’. Onagi didn't shine, but it was still sanctuary to me. 

It was settled in the heart of a range that stretched the horizon. Wooded mountains that shot with purpose toward the sky. Winters were harsh, but the trees and peaks hid us from the world. And that was just how I liked it. We talked about moving on, sometimes, striking out for the City. But in a world fraught by wars between numerous clans, the thought was folly. 

Drifters came and went, and on occasion they'd stay, but rarely. The only real form of government we had was a man who went by the name of Magistrate Masataka. The elders would come up with basic tenets, which upon unanimous agreement was overseen by him. 

And there we were…. no government, until there was. I was new then, so I barely understood human culture. I remember Masataka as a good, hardworking man who just became… broken. I think the human word is ‘sad’. Sad and lonely and frightened. As his fingers tightened around Onagi, people left. Those who stayed saw as our days became grey. Masataka's protection, from the Ronin, from the Shinobi, even ourselves, became dictatorial. 

Looking back, I think he just lost too much-- of himself, his family. But  **_everyone_ ** had lost something. And some of us-- like me --had nothing to begin with. My only memories I had of the life before this one are so very hazy, some days I forget I even had them. 

Onagi was there for me in the days after The Fall. They were all family to me. The farmers, the laundrywomen, every smiling face or kindly elder, raised me like I wasn't just another street rat. Like I was their natural born son. And life was good. Being the only life I knew, my judgement is skewed, and it wasn't easy-- pock-marked by loss as it was-- but I would call it good. 

 

Until of course, it wasn't. 

 

Until two people entered my world. One a light, and the other the darkest shadow I would ever know.


	3. Journal Entry : Saigo no Kotoba 2

The person I would come to know as Shoujo, was in description closest to what the humans would call a father. He was my ally, and my closest friend.

I was only mere cycles old, but I’ll never forget his shadow on the open trail as he made his slow walk into town.

I’d never seen anything like him. Maybe none of us had. He had said he was only passing through, and I believed him-- still do, but life can get in the way of intent, it often does. 

 

I can picture that day with almost perfect clarity. Of all the details though-- all the nuance and moments --the memory that stuck in my mind the most was the steel on Shoujo's back. A lightly curving blade that looked both pristine and worn in. A relic of every battle he'd ever fought, it peeked out ever so slightly behind his back. Like a trophy… and a warning. 

Everything about this man screamed danger. But there was a light about him-- a pureness to his weight --that seemed to hint that his ire was earned, not carelessly given. 

I had been the first to spy his approach, but soon most of Onagi had come out to greet him. I thought I had known kindness, a helping hand here or an open door warmly offered, but his coming saw the grace of so many smiles, I didn't think Onagi could ever be so bright.

I stood in silence as Shoujo walked, his expression pensive from behind his sleek  _ kabuto _ . He looked just like the  _ samurai _ of legend, and to this day I’m not sure if the silence between the town’s people and adventurer was born out of fear or respect. I’d like to think the latter, but any truth I’d place on the moment would be one of my own making.

 

As we waited for Magistrate Masataka to make his appearance, I didn't realise my legs were moving until I had crossed the court, and stood athwart his path, between this mysterious, dangerous man and his destiny. It was perhaps a stroke of fate that my stature was a short as it was. 

I watched with fascination as the man lowered his attention to me as I stood, staring up at him. His eyes were hidden behind the thick plates of his  _ kabuto _ as he lowered his gaze to regard what he probably thought was this foolish teenager. 

My eyes were fixed not upon his face though, but quite clearly on the  _ katana _ strapped on his back. I was imagining all the places that weapon had been. All the wonders it had seen. The horrors it endured. My imagination darted from one heroic act to the next. 

I barely registered when he began to kneel, holding out his steel as if an offering. But my eyes locked on to the piece, mesmerised. Never in all the world had I seen such craftsmanship. Not from a blacksmith or a Bismuth since. 

I recall turning back to the crowd and seeing the stunned faces of everyone I knew. There was a worry there-- a stern reprobate as if they were pleading with me to ignore the gift. 

I turned back towards the man I would come to know as Konaddo Shoujo, the finest warrior, man or gem, this system may ever know and one of the greatest Shinobi ever to have lived. 

So I took the weapon in my hand. Carefully. Gently. 

Not to use. But to observe. To imagine. To feel its weight and to know its truth. 

 

That was the first time I held ‘ **_最後の言葉_ ** ’. Unfortunately, it would not be the last. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Author's Note : ‘最後の言葉’ (Saigo no Kotoba) meaning ‘The Final Word’]


	4. Journal Entry : Saigo no Kotoba 3

Masataka's men found Konraddo Shoujo in the courtyard where this had all began.

Nine weapons trained on him. Nine long _naginata_. Nine hearts colder than the evening snow, all awaiting the order. Magistrate Masataka stood behind them, looking pleased with himself.

 

Konraddo Shoujo stood in silence. From behind his shoulder I saw the cold steel of his _katana_ glint in the firelight.

Masataka took in the crowd before stepping forward, as if to claim the ground-- his ground. “You **_dare_ ** question me?” There was venom in his words. “This is not your home.”

I remember Masataka's gestures here. Making a show of it all.

 

But everyone else was still. Quiet. Waiting.

 

I had my hand gripped tightly about my own dagger, but I found myself held in check by my thoughts. Why was I so willing to help this man whom I had only met mere months before?

I'd watched his every move since. Mapping his effortless gestures and slight, earned mannerisms. I'd never seen anything like him. He was something I couldn't comprehend, and yet I felt I'd understood all I needed the moment I saw him. He was more than us. Not better. Not superior. Just… **_more._ **

I thought I'd wanted to stop what was happening. Looking back now, I realised that I really didn't want to stop it. No one did.

 

As Masataka belittled Shoujo, taunted him, enumerated his crimes and sins, my eyes were stuck on his katana, this time tucked firmly into the sash about his hip. Though he made no move to reach for it, his hands were resting calmly upon his belt.

I remembered the sword's weight. Effortless. And my concern faded. I understood.

“This is our town! **_My town!_ **” Masataka was shouting now. He was going to make a show of Shoujo-- teach the people of Onagi a lesson in obedience.

Shoujo spoke clearly. Calmly.

 

“Not anymore.”

 

Masataka laughed dismissively. He could afford to. He had nine men on his side.

“Those gonna be your final words then, **_boy_**?”

What happened next was hard to follow. All I saw was a flash of green lightning, and Shoujo’s voice ringing out, loud and clear--

 

“ ** _Yours_** , not mine.”

 

In an instant, Shoujo was back where he stood, his sword in hand, glowing ominously in the firelight.

I hadn't understood what had happened, and neither did anyone else. Neither did the magistrate, until he felt beads of sweat run down his forehead. It was then I noticed Shoujo's sword. There was a single red droplet beading at its tip.

He hit the ground a second before his scalp did, his now exposed skull staining the white snow scarlet. His forehead was cut clean in half. His dead eyes stared into eternity.

 

Shoujo stared down the nine spears trained on him. One by one, they lowered their aim. And so the rest of my life began-- where, in a few short years, so many others would be ended.


	5. Present Day : Moonbase Alpha Surveillance Recording : 3.14-2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Exchange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd thought to include some foreshadowing with this anachronistic retelling of Serpentine's history by throwing us into the far future.
> 
> The Moonbase, it's original purpose to survey a Diamond's colony after all, is capable of automatically surveying and recording any and all gem activity on a planet of its charge. These recordings are regularly observed, assessed, and stored or sent out depending on a technician gem's discretion. Now abandoned, many of these recordings require assessment. Recording 142 of Era 3 is no exception....

**TYPE : POST-MATCH REPORT**

**PRESENT LIFEFORMS : Two [2]. Class [Inorganic]. One [1] Serpentine-Cut, Class Quintessant [u.1]; One [1] Pearl-Cut, Class Servant [u.2]; ( _WARNING_ , sensors recognise this entity as a known enemy of Homeworld and a tripartite leader of the rebel faction  _The Crystal Gems_. Immediate Action Recommended.)**

ASSOCIATIONS : **Arena; Cloud Arena; European Dead Zone; Her Exigency, Yellow Diamond; Crystal Gem; Serpentine; Pearl, Renegade; The Darkfang, The Outskirts**

**///AUDIO UNAVAILABLE///**

**//TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS...//**

[u. 1.01] : So... That was a thing.

[u. 2.01] : What was?

[u. 1.02] : The Diamonds coming to Earth.

[audible laughter]

[u. 2.02] : I didn't expect it either, honestly.

[u. 1.03] : You'd think that with all that's happened, all that they stood for...

[u. 2.03] : That they'd put up more of a fight? 

[u. 1:04] : That they wouldn't give up so easy. Doesn't it bother you that even after what happened, what Steven did... That they'd just roll over and show their bellies like some...

[u. 2.04] : Pumpkin?

[u. 1.05] : Dog, but sure, that works.

[silence]

[u. 1.06] : Is that why you've fixed the Arena? Made it operational again?

[u. 2.05] : Well, yes, but mostly because Steven wanted to give the restored Crystal Gems a familiar space to do something that's familiar to them. They've been away a while and the world  _ **has**_ changed.

[u. 1.07] : For the better I hope.

[u. 2.06] : What do you mean by that?

[u. 1.08] : I was looking through some of the post-match recordings...

[u. 2.07] : Stars above, you can't be talking about--

[u. 1.09] : I _**keep**_ talking about it because you don't seem to be taking it seriously.

[u. 2.08] :  _ **Like we said before**_ , Serpentine, we are aware of--  _ **and share**_ \--your concerns and are monitoring the situation.

[u. 1.10] : Where'd they even get their hands on something like that anyway? Or the means? Is there something you're not telling me?

[u. 2.09] : We can't control where they're allowed to go. They're free gems now. It could be that this matter hits too close to home for you to see the bigger picture.

[u. 1.11] :  _ **Too close?**_ I've seen the vids from The Outskirts, Pearl. They're playing with death.


	6. Gem Fragments : Violet Pearl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A recount found in a shattered gem fragment by Peridot Facet-2F5L-Cut-5XG. Decryption follows.

 

_ “This is written that you may understand. The time of Diamonds has long since gone from this world. Yes, their reign does linger -- these shallow, cruel, cowardly gems, clinging to their grand delusions of a world that has long since passed them by. Do they not know their reign is a lie? It will crumble beneath the weight of their greed. In the end, though they may conquer worlds and moons and the fragile flesh upon which they so freely trample, their empires will collapse and their graves will beckon. And the crowns of the old will find new hands to bear the weight of their power.  _

 

_ And the strong will be made to suffer as their weakness is brought into the light.”  _

 

_ \-- _ Author Unknown. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

**HER TEETH CHATTERED.**

 

And with each angry word issued more and more of them fell. It was her and her team of gems against what seemed like an unstoppable army of their corrupted kin.

All around her, her band began to falter. A weapon chipped here or an energy spear run dry. Violet Pearl soon found that she too was out of ammunition. 

She lowered a hand down to her gem in her belly. Nothing came.

_**Damn.** _

They were out of moves. The only possible corollary was to retreat. Logic demanded it. Protocol dictated it.

But she was a Crystal Gem. And Crystal Gems make their own fates.

 

And so with renewed determination, she swung her teeth back behind her, issuing a roar of challenge in denial of the odds.

Her corrupted brethren, as if sensing her defiance, converged upon her, ready to strike her down.

She swung her Teeth around mercilessly, executing graceful pirouette after pirouette in the way only Pearls can do, her Teeth flying about her in a whirlwind of beautiful destruction.

Her band, mere moments from submission, stared uncomprehending, in awe of her might. Of her skill.

Reminded once again of the limits of their potential, they too followed suit, taking after their fearless, defiant leader, so reminiscent now of that other brave, frightening Pearl.

 

The pile of vanquished nightmares-- half gem, half thing --grew at Violet Pearl's feet.

Within the whirling maelstrom, there was calm. An ease.

The chaos of battle was no place for panic. 

Her swings went wide, but her movements measured. 

In this exchange of blows, her Teeth did the talking. The biting and the gnashing.

On the underside of her hand, the rose tattoo she had thought up for herself glowed with flashes of purple heat-- a brazen challenge blossoming in pointed insolence against this vile, hateful kingdom of shadows.

 

There had to be an end to this horde. This was no ordinary attack. It was an endless, concerted onslaught aimed at one of the Crystal Gems' most crucial strongholds.

The Rose Garden was a place of healing. Of respite. It could not be allowed to fall.

There.

On the other side of the vast throng. A slender, floating figure with pointed horns, glowing with each new wave of sentient crystal that came clawing out of the dirt.

That was her target.

She made her move, but the wicked woman laughed: a horrible, grating screech that almost made her gem crack.

It was followed by footsteps. Heavy and hard.

**Thoom.**

**Thoom.**

**Thoom.**

**Thoom.**

Violet Pearl squinted against the darkness of the cavern as she took the time to reel in her weapon.

A shape took form, approaching from the deep.

A gem of such mass and might as to dwarf the tiny Pearl.

The massive quadruped gem had claws on its paws, each nearly as big as she was.

Its body was thick with ornate crystal-- a living armor that was one with the beast.

 

Violet Pearl let out an accepting sigh.

The creature walked like a thing burdened by untold sin-- lumbering and slow, though its stride covered the ground with unnatural ease.

To her, the approaching horror cut an imposing silhouette not unlike that of an old disgraced Jasper she had once known. She smiled.

**_Disgraced to Homeworld of course._ **

Maybe it had been heroic once.

Maybe here, in the shadows, to the watchful eyes of its wicked bride and her roiling horde it was a hero still-- just for a darker, sinister cause.

The thought intrigued Pearl.

 

The fight she had come all this way to find, the enemy she had hoped was nothing but a legend's lie, seemed eager to greet her.

She smiled in spite of herself, then spun her Teeth in a graceful ballerina twirl, her rose insignia set alight, as did her gem.

Six passes, centre mass. Six and sixty strikes, across all possible gem locations beneath its furred, hulking exterior.

Pearl stopped twirling. It stumbled backwards, faltering, as the world fell silent beneath the eye of the passing storm.

_**Crack.** _

\----------------------------------------------------------

Two days had passed since Pearl had led her team into that skirmish. Two days since they treaded that thin red line between triumph and disaster. And in those two days she had pestered everyone.

Every Peridot. Every patient Chrysoberyl. Anyone who could tell her what she had to know about that wicked woman and her promise of suffering.

Of the sea of mindless, clacking death.

Of the hulking Jasper and her epic battle.

As she watched from her solitary, quiet perch upon the hill that overlooked what looked to be a sleepy, seaside beach town, Pearl reached into her gem for the fragment of that Jasper's shattered gem.

A reminder of the cruelty the Diamonds were capable of. The evil that lurked beyond their elegant forms of light.

And while she recounted once more the events that led to her time in the shadows and in the light, she began the process of grafting the corrupted Jasper's shattered fragments to her weapon's hard adamantine frame.

Just another trophy from another battle won.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

It was only later, and far too late, that the first whispers came, and the shards revealed their true, jagged purpose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm fascinated by Pearls, if you could not tell.  
> Their frailty belies a might and potential that could dwarf other gems easily. They're smart, cunning little creatures, Pearls.  
> Just look at our Pearl. So brave, so strong. She constantly put herself between her Rose and danger. Whether that be in defence of her secret love or her love's secret is debatable, but the fact remains that against impossible odds, she stood resilient and umoving.
> 
> That alone is worthy of a Shakespearian sonnet.
> 
> Anyway, moving on.


	7. Journal Entry : Saigo no Kotoba 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunt turned rescue expedition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A return to the only narrative we're truly interested in.

Moonrise.

 

It's been four nights since I've seen the seventh moon.

Nine rises since any sign.

The trail wasn't cold, but to say it was lukewarm was a heinous exaggeration.

 

Shoujo had us hold by a ravine.

The heavy woods along the cliff's edge caught the wind, holding back the cold, and the rush of the water muffled our conversation.

We'd seen two roving mercenary patrols pass us by as they cut through the valley below. 

It wasn't known  _Ronin_ territory, but anyhow that's a dangerous assumption.

There were six of us then.

Three less than two moons prior, but still, one more than when we turned our backs on the ashes of Onagi.

 

We took rotation for our watch duties during the night.

Movement was kept to a minimum and communication was down to hand signals and simple gestures.

I was a gem. I could definitely hold my own in a fight, so could most of the other humans in our little band, but only dead people go looking for a fight-- a hard truth that cut in direct opposition to our reasons for being so far from anything resembling civilisation, much less our safety.

The patrols has spooked Kenji and Noriko, and in truth, me as well. But, in hindsight, I think we were all just looking for a reason to turn back. 

Not because we would-- turn back --but because it seemed to be our only real hope, and I think we all knew it.

 

Forward, however, whereever we were headed-- was into the unknown. And all we were doing was just following footsteps. You can see how this blind venture started to feel like a never-ending dead end after a while.

Shoujo never wavered though. Not once.

At least, not to any noticeable degree.

It was  _ **his**_ drive, his  _ **conviction**_ , that kept us going.

And... it's hard to think about it but... I think it was his death that rekindled my own fire. A fire that had long since gone cold by this time.

He seemed confident that we were close.

But more than that-- he seemed sure.

No one else felt it though. All that fake bravado had gone out the second we saw Benjiro, Takashi and Masami get struck down.

 

Sometimes, on those cold, late winter nights, I could spy Shoujo at the woods' edge, gazing up at the moon. He'd stretch occasionally, and frequently wring his hands, but I never knew Shoujo to be one for idleness. He  _ **was**_ doing something on those midwinter nights, though for the life of me I couldn't figure out what.

In the end, I chalked it up to wariness. A practised guard that never faltered, even in deprivation of the sleep that the rest of them so dearly required.

At the time I never knew why he'd singled  _ **me**_ out as someone to care for. Someone to protect. I mean.. after all the loss, I welcomed it. Craved it even, but... he would've known that I would be the one that least needed protection.

Looking back though... taking in the way he'd kept all the others at arm's length-- I guess  _ **I**_ should have known, or at least suspected that he knew there was more to me.

 

We all woke that night, closer to morning than the previous day.

Shoujo was missing still, but I heard noises in the woods.

_**Swish. Swish swish.** _

It was unmistakable. It could only be the sound of two people trading blows.

A crack of wooden bark split the silence apart. Then more.

It wasn't close, but it was near enough to 'get the blood pumping', as they say.

A familiar ring of steel just then. **"Saigo no Kotoba"**. Shoujo's  _katana._ His best friend and closest ally.

Then another ring. A single blow, but somehow multifaceted. One echo, but many, calling through the night. Hushed, yet cutting.

 _ **S**_ _ **nick**_.

Another pass. This one low and sinister. Infernal and dark. Then... silence.

We crouched low and quiet. Listening. Hoping.

Shoujo was gone. Off on his own.

Maybe closer than we'd allowed ourselves to believe.

Too close.

He'd gone to face death alone.

I couldn't admit it-- not at the time --but I knew he thought he was protecting us.

After such a long road-- years on its heels, a trail littered with suffering and fire --maybe he just couldn't take the thought of anymore dead  _kodomo_ , as he called us.

 

The echoes faded away and we all held still. No way to track the direction. No sense in running in blind.

What was done was done.

The cadence of the blows told a story none of us cared to hear. 

" **Saigo no Kotoba** " it hadn't been. And somewhere in the world, close enough for us to bear absent witness but far enough to be a dream, Konraddo Shoujo, my father, my friend, lay dead or dying. And there was nothing I could do.

For all my gifts, for all my strength.  _ **Nothing.**_

 

We held our spot, but as the sun rose, others faded back into the world. Without Shoujo there was nothing holding us together. No driving force. Vengeance had grown stale as a motivator. Fear and the longing to see more suns had driven a wedge between duty and desire.

By midday, I was alone. I couldn't leave.  _ **I wouldn't.**_

Either I would find Shoujo and set him at ease, or the other would find me, and that would be a fitting end.

Death marching on.

 

But just then, a movement, in the trees. My hand flew to my gem, the dagger was in my hand in a nanosecond. My teeth were gritted harder than I ever imagined I could, bared and waiting.

If this was to be it, I would fight to the bitter end. A figure stepped out of the woods.

My eyes went wide at the sight of another person, but more importantly, what she was holding.

 _ **Saigo no Kotoba.**_ There it was. The confirmation of a truth I had already accepted.

I promised myself I would be strong. To be everything he taught me to be. But all that dogma couldn't keep my feet from failing as I slumped forward into the dirt. On my knees, quivering.

I screamed then. I'd screamed and screamed and screamed.

By the time I'd opened my eyes, I could see the green blades of damp grass beneath the melted snow around me, catching fire in spite of it, even as the trees did.

 

Then this gem, this person whom I'd never met, never heard of, made her approach towards me.

Through my moist eyes I'd taken a moment to appraise her form.

Tall and slender. Wiry yet firm. As my eyes traveled upward, I noticed her ensemble. A pair of blue shorts that merged into a tight-fitting leotard that ended in a veil about her shoulders.

Higher. Pursed lips. Pointed nose. Her eyes. They were cold, menacing. But also, understanding. Kind, even.

I knew instinctively that this was not his murderer, but possibly a friend of some kind. He had many secrets.

She held out the weapon to me, looking me over as though taking her measure of me.

 

I looked up, staring into her teal blue eyes.

 

And then she spoke...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter I upload of this story is a constant debate about where I should go from here.
> 
> It's been a long time since I challenged myself to upload a chapter each day, and going back to doing that scares me.  
> Which is exactly why I'm forcing myself to do this.
> 
> But I sincerely hope, for Frenzie's sake if not mine, that the content I churn does not come at the expense of quality.  
> Though I suppose it's up to my readers to be the judge of that.


	8. 18th Centennial Solar Cycle : Moonbase Alpha Recording 2.09-3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Confluence

**TYPE : TRANSCRIPT**

**DESCRIPTION : CONVERSATION**

**PRESENT LIFEFORMS : TWO [2]. Class [Inorganic]. One [1] Pearl-Cut, Class [EXPUNGED] [u.1]; One [1] Pearl-Cut, Class Servant [u.2]; ( _WARNING_ , sensors recognise this entity as a known enemy of Homeworld and a tripartite leader of the rebel faction  _The Crystal Gems_. Immediate Action Recommended.)**

ASSOCIATIONS :  **Highlands; Widow's Peak; Japan; Pearl, [EXPUNGED]; Her Perfection, [REDACTED]; Crystal Gem; Pearl, Renegade;  Saigo no Kotoba; The Darkfang;**

**///AUDIO UNAVAILABLE///**

**//TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS...//**

 

[u. 2.01] : [shuddering breaths]

[silence]

[silence]

[u. 1.01] : You done?

[u. 2.02] : [calms] Such corruption...

[u. 1.02] : Impressed?

[u. 2.03] : _**Stars, no.**_ What happened to you?

[u. 1.03] : To each their own.

[u. 2.04] : I can see her inside you--

[u. 1.04] : You  _ **think**_ you can see her. She is long dead.

[u. 2.05] : You're a disease.

[u. 1.05] : I am that which is divine.

[u. 2.06] : You are a monster.

[u. 1.06] :  _Heh._ I had a friend once who thought the same of me. She was right, and, had we met earlier, so too would you be. 

[u. 2.07] :  _ **How dare you?**_ You'd  _ **dare**_ defend yourself-- your actions, after everything you've done?

[u. 1.07] : No more than an Earthen thunderstorm.

[u. 2.08] : So you're a force of nature?

[u. 1.08] : I am everything that is right in the universe. I am the extension of perfection itself. You may not see it-- for lack of looking or that blind ignorance you Crystal Gems are so good at doing-- but I am all that is good.

[u. 2.09] : You just murdered an organi-- a human. A  _ **good**_ human who did  _ **nothing**_ to hurt you.

[u. 1.09] : He struck first.

[u. 2.10] : Yet you stand.

[u. 1.10] : Guess he missed.

[u. 2.11] : He  _ **never**_ misses.

[u. 1.11] : First time for everything.

[silence]

[u. 1.12] : You _**knew** _him.

[beat]

[u. 1.13] : Interesting...

[sound of a weapon being picked up]

[u. 1.14] : It is so odd that such flimsy creatures are capable of such... outstanding craftsmanship. 

[u. 1.15] : Well-worn, but clean. Sharp edge.

[u. 2.12] : It was his prize. Set it down. You have  _ **no**_ right to be touching that.

[u. 1.16] : Guess he put too much faith in the wrong steel.

[u. 2.13] : Is that where your faith lies? In steel?

[u. 1.17] : Faith?

[laughter]

[u. 1.18] : You don't know what faith is. You, _**forsaken**_ ,  _ **heretic.**_

[u. 2.14] : Am I your nemesis then? Would you strike me down, here and now, like you did him?

[u. 1.19] : He was just a way to waste my time. As are you. Don't think so highly of yourself,  _ **defect.**_

[u. 2.15] : Would you end me then?

[u. 1.20] : Not here. Not now.

[u. 2.16] : So you do know mercy.

[u. 1.21] : I know no such thing. This is not mercy. This is but a message, and you the messenger. Weren't those one of your many functions, slave?

[u. 2.17] : You're one yourself, _**hypocrite**_.

[audible crack]

[choking noises]

[gasps]

[u. 1.22] : Like I said, this is no mercy, just a message. So how about you seal those pretty little lips of yours...

[audible struggling]

[u. 1.23] :  _ **And listen.**_

[scratching of glass]

[muffled screaming]

[audible thud]

[gasps of air]

[u. 1.24] : The dead man's disciple.

[u. 2.18] : _**Him?**_

[u. 2.19] : [between gasps] He doesn't even  _ **remember**_ us. He's innocent as a newborn gemling. You'd end  _ **him**_ as well?

[u. 1.25] : If it comes to that... we'll see...

[u. 2.20] : You will not hurt him.

[u. 1.26] : Not yet., but it's been a while. I think he can hold his own.

[u. 2.21] :  **You. Will. Not. Have. Him.**

[u. 1.27] : Who's going to stop me?  _ **You?**_

[more laughter]

[u. 1.28] : That is an amusing thought.

[silence]

[u. 1.29] : Here.

[silence]

[u. 1.30] : Take it.

[u. 2.22] : Why?

[u. 1.31] : Give the disciple his master's sword. It is a gift.

[u. 2.23] : That would imply it was yours to begin with. Such a weapon is earned. And you're nowhere close to even beginning to understand what that weapon means.

[u. 1.32] : You really cared about him, didn't you?

[silence]

[u. 1.33] : Do you  _ **fear**_ for him as well?

[u. 1.34] : He, who killed so many of us during those early days?

[u. 2.24] : Don't defile her memory by comparing us, worm. We are nothing alike.

[silence]

[u. 2.25] : You're trying to turn him aren't you? Turn him into a monster like you?

[u. 1.36] : You got all that from a simple gift? You truly are defective.

[u. 2.26] : You claim to be a vessel, a hollow shell where a gem once stood, but that is just a lie. The gem she was is still in you.

[u. 1.37] : Again, you grasp at straws. There is no gem here. I am, now and forever, _**Shin'en Daku.**_

[u. 2.27] : The Blackest Abyss?

[u. 1.38] : So you do understand their language.

[u. 2.28] : Hide behind whatever titles you wish, it's still all a facade. A sham. No 'force of nature' would play such games.

[u. 1.39] : Games?

[u. 2.29] : His sword. I see your plan. You want to tempt him. To spur him on and fuel his rage. There is intent there. The actions of a gem, monstrous, mad, or defective... you are nothing more than a regular gem.

[u. 1.40] : And what value does this conclusion bring, flawed as it may be?

[u. 2.30] : That a storm can only be weathered, not stopped. Not redirected. A force of nature is uncaring, and has no intent. But a gem...

[u. 1.41] : Yes?

[u. 2.31] : A gem is none of those things. A gem would have purpose. A gem could use a stupid name like yours to sound scary.

[silence]

[u. 2.32] : A gem has flaws.

[silence]

[u. 2.33] : A gem can be shattered.

[u. 1.42] : And there it is...

[u. 2.34] : There what is?

[u. 1.43] : A sliver of hope.


End file.
